Rim Turkmani

Senior Research Fellow, London School of Economics

Editors choice

“If we expect the peace we’re building to outlive us, we must be actively passing it on by crossing generational borders – building peacebuilders who can continue that process.”

Wala’ and Zakaria are peacebuilders working with Generation For Peace, empowering Middle-eastern youth through arts and sports. This experience made them realize that we must cross borders of impact, borders of expectation and borders of generation to create peaceful societies.

Geneva Peace Talks 2018. Recorded at the Palais des Nations on September 21, 2018.

“We want kids to be surrendered by books, not guns. We want more leaders in this world, not just victims. The refugee community of the future starts with this generation. We want this generation to be educated. We need this youth to build a country.”

Aya Mohammed Abdullah, a student and delegate of the Global Youth Advisory Council of the UN Refugee Agency shares her experience of being a refugee for most of her life. She speaks of the different types of borders she faced (physical, cultural, economic), her motivation to work for peace and the importance of young refugees to access education.

Geneva Peace Talks 2018. Recorded at the Palais des Nations on September 21, 2018.

“You have the right to make your voices heard…not only can you participate, you can lead. As individuals, you have power.”

Former United Nations Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan was interviewed by Ahmad Fawsi, former Communication Advisor and Chief Spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Refugees. During the interview, Kofi Annan spoke about his constant fight for peace across the world and shared his ideas and tips for successful peace negotiations.

Geneva Peace Talks 2017. Recorded at the Palais des Nations on September 21, 2017.

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“Hatred is born of ignorance. Fear is its father, and isolation is its mother.”

Christian Picciolini, “ex neo-Nazi turned hate breaker,” shared his powerful story of transformation and hope at the Geneva Peace Talks 2017. Christian shared his experience leaving the American hate movement that he helped build in the eighties and nineties and described how he went on to become a respected peace advocate.

Geneva Peace Talks 2017. Recorded at the Palais des Nations on September 21, 2017.

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“A hug makes a big difference. It doesn’t need to be physical, it can also be words, a sign of hope. People need to feel it when they are in a siege, when they are abandoned.”

Staffan de Mistura is the Special Envoy for Syria of the United Nations Secretary-General. In his talk, Staffan describes his experience and lessons learned as a UN official at a refugee camp in the Balkans in 1999.

Stockholm Peace Talks 2017. Recorded at Stockholm City Hall on March 21, 2017.

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“It is very important to fight against prejudice. Because prejudice is the root of a lot of the evil in this world.”

In an interview with journalist Alexandra Pascalidou, Swedish author and psychologist, Hédi Fried, shares her own experiences as a Holocaust survivor, and describes how she has dedicated her life to spread the message of democracy and peace, to combat xenophobia.

Stockholm Peace Talks 2017. Recorded at Stockholm City Hall on March 21, 2017.

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In this video Alaa Murabit, the founder of the Voice of Libyan Women, talks about leadership. She shares her personal story about the critical and overlooked leadership role that women play in ending conflict, preventing extremism and building sustainable peace.

Forest defines what peace means to him as the exchange of knowledge and respect. In other words, it is the idea of people working together towards a communal goal. He then illustrates the importance of human connections in peacebuilding, with examples from the Youth Peacemaker Network, a project supported by his foundation, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative.

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Peace talks vision

The vision of the Peace Talks is to expand the space for dialogue about building peace and resolving conflict. Through individual Peace Talks, speakers from different sectors and industries share their personal stories, ideas and practical solutions to resolve conflict. The spirit of the Peace Talks is one of collaboration and reinforces that each and every person has a role to play in peace. The Peace Talks were co-founded by the United Nations Office in Geneva, the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, and Interpeace with the support of the Swiss Government. The Peace Talks started in 2013 in Switzerland through the first-ever Geneva Peace Talks and have travelled to Stockholm, Nairobi and Ottawa.